PARIS: Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2022/23 season that started on July 1 had reached 13.63 million tonnes by Nov. 20, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

The total so far this season was 4% above the 13.09 million tonnes shipped by the same week in 2021/22, the data showed.

The year-on-year increase had narrowed from 10% in the Commission’s previous weekly data. However, traders are expecting 2022/23 exports to accelerate in the coming weeks after talk of large sales to countries including China.

A breakdown of the EU data showed France remained the leading EU soft wheat exporting country this season, with 5.58 million tonnes shipped, followed by Romania with 1.75 million tonnes, Germany with 1.57 million tonnes, Latvia with 1.16 million tonnes and Poland with 1.08 million tonnes.